control ⇢ the maze runner / thomas [1] ✓

Chapter Sixteen

"Quiet down, Ruby", Minho sighed. "You don't know what you're saying. And you're not dying."

"Feels like it. O-Town and Innocence were pretty good too." Ruby apparently liked older music.

Minho rolled his eyes. He adjusted the girl in his arms. Women. So dramatic. He turned to look at Thomas as they ran. Thomas was holding up pretty well, considering he barely had time to blink before being forced to run. Minho knew exactly what he was doing though. He never stopped or second guessed himself. "I just saw... the dive move you did... back there...", Minho panted. His breath was beginning to escape him. Even he got tired. "We only have to last... a little while longer", he continued as they took another sharp turn.

Thomas didn't say anything. He was trying not to waste his own breath and energy. He just kept following. Occasionally he looked over at Ruby. She looked tired, sweat glistening all over her body. He gently squeezed her shoulder. "You're okay..."

The Grievers were gaining. When they took the next turn, Ruby and Thomas were shocked to see that they didn't slam into another wall. There was nothing. Nothing but stars and clear skies. Everything just simply stopped. The walls seemed to just fade away into the sky. It was like the Maze, the Glade, was floating in some other plane of existence. "Don't throw me off this shit", Ruby mumbled. She was barely able to keep her eyes open.

The words made Minho chuckle. "Don't get excited", he said, looking over at Thomas. The boy must have gotten a little hopeful. Poor Minho was barely able to talk.

Right before they reached the edge, Minho skid to a stop. Thomas stopped too, pretty confused. However, he eventually walked right up to the edge. He was desperate to see. "Get away from there, dummy. You'll fall off." There was nothing but empty air there. Minho was right. It had been nothing for Thomas to get excited about. Oh well. At least it was something. A reminder that this wasn't all for nothing. There was a world out there. This just needed to figure out how to reach it. And they would. He was sure of that.

Dawn was coming to chase the darkness away. Thank God. They just had to last a few hours longer. Ruby had almost missed the changing of the walls, but even now they clicked into place. "I don't get it", Thomas said quietly.

"Careful", Minho warned. "You wouldn't be the first shank to fall off the Cliff." Minho had set Ruby down to grab Thomas's shoulder. She had briefly remembered Alby mentioning the Cliff to people before, usually jokingly. "Did you forget something?" Minho nodded towards the Maze. In doing so, he noticed that Ruby had been shakily trying to stand. The girl was using the ivy to pull herself up. "Hey, hey, stop that! Save your energy."

"Shut up, I can handle myself", she mumbled. And she did. She was weak, but she did. Ruby stood in shaky legs, using the wall as support to make her way over to them. When she did, she stared over the edge of the Cliff. Nothing. Just wide open sky everywhere. "Oh God, I think I'm gonna be sick." The girl bent over, hands on her knees, and retched. Minho and Thomas cringed. Once Ruby was done emptying the contents of her stomach, she stumbled away. "Gross." Just as she stood all the way back up, the Grievers came charging around the corner.

"These things may be vicious", Minho started, "but they're dumb as dirt. Stand here, close to me, facing—"

"I know. I'm ready", Thomas interrupted.

Ruby shook her head as she stared at the approaching beasts. "I can't — I am in no way ready to jump."

"Too bad. Get ready", Minho snorted.

Ruby groaned. The three of them stood close together, as close as they could, and faced the Grievers. Their heels almost dangled off the edge. If they fell... Ruby squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't wanna die. She couldn't die. She had to be strong.

"We need to be in sync!", Minho shouted. The sound of the Grievers almost drowned him out. "On my mark!" Ruby couldn't understand why they had lined up this way. Did they have a plan to attack them? Or maybe the corridors were just too narrow for them to go all at once. The beasts were thirsty for blood, that she knew for sure.

"Ready? Not yet... not yet..." Ruby swayed on her feet. She was too weak for this. "Now!", Minho shouted. Just before the creature could reach them, all three of them dove just out of reach. The first one screamed in horror as it flew off the edge. The scream abruptly ended.

Thomas pulled Ruby into his chest when she landed next to him. He wrapped his arms around her. The second monster tumbled over the edge, too big to slow down. The third one shoved one of its arms into the stone floor, but its momentum was too great. The metal seemed to scream before it went over the edge. Neither of these two made a sound. The fourth Griever had apparently learned from its comrades. A spike and a claw held it in place.

Apparently Thomas and Minho had a mutual idea, because suddenly the two boys were running. All Ruby could do was stare in confusion. In the end, the two of them kicked the creature off the edge. Thomas leaned over the edge. Whatever he saw, or didn't see, must have stressed him out. All of a sudden, he was crying. And then there was Ruby, who was vomiting again.

DECEMBER 13, 2019
by the way i'm following J-Dash's layout, so now
whenever he stops a chapter, i stop! ( unless i have
an idea for something. )